


swaying from season to season

by snoflakesun



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Hospital, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-21 03:09:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13731873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snoflakesun/pseuds/snoflakesun
Summary: Yata, a junior in high school, decides to work at Scepter Hospital.a story with 99% fluff and 1% angst bc i can't write angst for my life.





	swaying from season to season

**Author's Note:**

> soooo this is my first fic on K!  
> i'm really really really bad at sticking to characters and plot, so both may go astray  
> especially fushimi... it's kind of out of character...  
> the school year is based on the one I have, not japanese ones because i'm too lazy to find out how it works  
> basically the start of a new year is in july/august, and end of the first semester is november/december  
> the entire story is REALLY fluffy! there's only like one scene of angst.  
> i hope you like it!

_swaying from season to season_

—❅—

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._ Fushimi opened his eyes slowly, before reaching his arm out to grab his glasses that were located on the small desk next to his bed. He snapped open his glasses before shoving them on his face. He glanced at the clock which read "6:28". Blue eyes turned to face the ceiling, glaring at it for a good while. He had stopped counting the days since he had arrived — what five, six years ago? His attention shifted towards the large window, its curtains pulled aside, as the sun rose over the trees that grew outside. The sun cast a rosy haze over the green leaves and budding flowers.

The door opened, and in came one of the only people he's interacted within the past few years: Munakata Reisi. "How are you feeling, Fushimi-kun?" Munakata asked, an easygoing smile apparent on his face.

"I feel no different," Fushimi drawled. "But I have a bad feeling about today."

"Why is that?" He tilted his head.

"Tch. I wouldn't know."

Munakata eyed him, before turning around. "We have a newcomer today, if that's what you have a bad feeling about."

"Yeah. Probably that."

The older man stepped outside before closing the door, leaving Fushimi alone with his thoughts in the sterile, white hospital room.

 

Yata walked into the Scepter Hospital, its double glass doors gracefully sliding open as he neared them. A woman wearing a blue uniform and her blonde hair put up was seated at the front desk, typing away at her desktop. "Ah... hello," he said, feeling out of place with his loose hoodie tied around his waist, a beanie on top of his wild hair, and a skateboard tucked under his arm.

The blonde's piercing blue eyes raised from the electronical device, her eyes landing on Yata. The incomer noticed the small badge that was on her uniform, reading "Awashima" in bold. "You're the new worker? Yata Misaki?"

"Ah... yeah. That's me."

"Hah. I expected a girl."

Misaki had a light shade of pink dust over his cheeks; his name was a girly name and he did hate it…

"No matter," Awashima brushed it off quickly. "Come this way, I'll get your mentor."

A few holograms popped up in front of her; after tapping the electronical projections, they promptly folded up and disappeared. Barely a minute later, another blonde, albeit a male this time, came through a different door that Misaki assumed led to the main rom of the hospital. "Yo, Seri-chan," the male smiled, before turning towards Yata. "Hey. I'm Kusanagi. Kusanagi Izumo, your mentor. I'll be showing you around."

Yata nodded, following the other as he walked towards the door he had entered from. "Here's my first piece of advice," Kusanagi tipped his head back in a grin. "The workers here aren't your usual nurses and doctors who wear pristine white. Here, it's Scepter 4."

The high schooler blinked in confusion. "Uh... what do you mean, Kusanagi-san?"

The said man didn't turn, but pushed the door open instead, to reveal males wearing blue uniforms. "Ah, hey!" A ginger greeted him. "You're the new student worker, eh?"

Another male with the same blue uniform whacked him across the head. "Domyouji, show respect!"

Within seconds, Yata's vision was filled with blue uniforms, his head filled with jumbled words, and he could only stumble backwards, overwhelmed. "Boys, boys," Kusanagi clapped his hands together. "You're scaring him."

"Sorry about that," One of them stepped forwards. "My name is Akiyama. All of us here are part of Scepter 4, a government organization. We actually worked for the police force, but Captain said the Prime Minister wanted us to do a more human-relating job. Here, I'll introduce everyone."

Akiyama proceeded to list everyone by name, each one greeting Misaki. He thought they were all pretty nice, and talked to them until Kusanagi called for him to follow. "Many of the patients here are permanent ones," the two of them walked through a hallway. "They're moved here after they have gone through their surgeries and just have to be under care. Student volunteers like you usually choose one of the patients to take care of. They come after school and just talk to and make sure the patients are feeling fine. I'll show you to some of them later."

After Kusanagi let him go for the afternoon, Yata decided to wander around, ending up in the permanent patient room. Sitting near the door was a male with white hair, his direction focused on a small, pink cat that rested on his lap. He lifted his head, the two males' eyes locking. "Oh, hello," he smiled gently.

"Hey," Yata responded, walking fully into the room, closing the door behind him.

The permanent patient room was quite spacious; a large glass window was located a wall, its thin curtains billowing with the afternoon breeze. Sunlight streamed into the room, lighting it up with a soft glow. "My name is Isana Yashiro, but you can call me Shiro. I'm one of the permanent patients here."

"I'm Yata... yeah, just call me Yata. I'm the new student volunteer."

"Oh I see! Welcome. I'll explain some more about myself. I've been here for around six months; I have leukemia. My student caretaker is Kuroh over there-" Shiro gestures towards the black haired man who's staring out the window. "and the cat over here is Neko."

After her name was called, the cat turned into a girl in an instant, rose petals appearing and disappearing like a hallucination. Yata backed away, both scared and amazed. "I... is she one of the permanent patients too?"

"Ah, no. It's just me. Neko and Kuroh both go to the same college."

"Neko just tagged along with me one day," the black haired male, Kuroh, said offhandedly as he moved towards the three of them.

"Kuroh and Shiro are Neko's only friends!" Neko exclaimed.

Yata watched as the three interacted, and excused himself to go home after the sun started to dip beneath the trees.

"How was work, Misaki?" his mom asked as the said boy walked through the entrance of his home, an "I'm home!" ringing from his throat.

"I met some nice people..."

 

—❅—

 

The second day Yata enters, he sees Domyouji second after Awashima. "Yo," The other ginger greeted. "How was school?"  
"It was pretty good," Yata responded. "Where's everyone else?"

"Ah, they went to go visit Fushimi-san..."

"Fushimi?" Yata repeated, before the door was opened and the rest of the alphabet squad filtered in, chattering about "Fushimi-san".

"He seemed sadder today," Enomoto commented. "I hope he's okay."

"You worry too much," Hidaka laughed, patting the boy with glasses on his shoulder. "Captain's been looking after him quite well, ne, Domyouji?"

"Yeah! Captain fusses over him like he does with his papers on a report!"

Yata heard the name "Munakata" tossed into the conversation, and something inside him made him think that he'd heard that name before.

"Hey, Yata!" Domyouji turned to the other ginger. "Who's your homeroom teacher? You go to Ashinaka, right?"

"Yeah! My teacher, Mikoto-san, is the best!" He was grinning.

All the conversation died down. "Mikoto...san?" Enomoto repeated. "Isn't he-mmph!"

His sentence was cut short when Domyouji covered his mouth. Yata shot a sharp glare at him. "What?"

"Nothing!" Akiyama cut in, smiling a little too brightly. "Nothing."

Yata shot a glare at Akiyama, before shrugging it off. It was probably nothing.

"Oi," Kusanagi poked his head into the room. "Some patients need to be seen. Stop standing around and doing nothing."

"Yeah, we're going, we're going," Domyouji shrugged it off, smiling as he headed towards the door and threw a smirk at Yata.

Yata frowned before hurrying after the other ginger.

 

Kusanagi found him wandering the halls after all the Scepter 4 workers disappeared into the white walls. “Hey, Yata. You need any help?”

Yata laughed nervously. “Um… yeah. What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, since it’s your first day actually working, you can just look around at other rooms and see how some of our workers take care of permanent patients. You’ll catch on quickly; there isn’t much to learn.”

The redhead made his way into the permanent patient room again, eager to see the friend he made the day before. Pushing the door open, sunlight streamed into the large room as he noticed a few people walking around in the room. He saw Shiro quickly; he was the only one with white hair. “Hey,” Yata waved to Shiro.

Shiro’s head turned, facing Yata. “Hi, Yata-kun. What’s going on?”

“I’m on shift today, but Kusanagi-kun said that today I should go observe how people take care of permanent patients…”

“You might want to look for Kuroh then… he’s not here right now. Neko’s probably with him too, since she sticks around with him. Instead of staying in this boring room with me, she goes with him to get some fresh air.”

“Don’t you ever go outside?”

Shiro smiled sadly. “I could… but for some reason I’m a bit too sensitive for light. He pulled out a red umbrella from next to him. “When I really want to go outside, I bring this. It attracts quite a lot of attention though…” Yata sighed. “That must be hard.”

“It’s fine, though. I’ve gotten used to it.”

His shift finished faster than he expected to; he waved a goodbye to Kusanagi and the rest of the alphabet squad before heading home. "I'm home," he called as he shut the door behind him.

"Ah, Misaki! Come help with cooking dinner and tomorrow's lunch for Minoru and Megumi!"

"Sure!"

"How was work today?"

"I talked to Domyouji- the ginger haired one..."

 

—❅—

 

"Fushimi-kun," Munakata's voice called from outside the door. "I'm coming in."

"You don't even give me a chance to respond," the said boy grumbled, sloppily grabbing his glasses and shoving them on his face to let his vision clear as the older male stepped into the room.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked, sitting on the chair next to the white bed.

"Perfectly fine," Fushimi averted his gaze, staring out the large glass window that was located on the side of his room.

"Hmm."

"Tch. I overheard Domyouji saying that the new worker is Suoh's student."

"Ah, you're right. He's quite an interesting character. I've observed him from afar, but I haven’t talked to him yet. You should meet him."

"No thanks."

Yata stretched his arms as he walked out of the school, bag hung over his shoulder. It was going to be his third day working at Scepter Hospital, and he wasn't the least excited about going. The people there were nice, and he could talk to many people. While he was walking, he wondered if something interesting would happen today. During school, he started drawing on the margins of his notebook. Mikoto-san had walked by and looked over his shoulder for a little, before walking away with a "hmm" sounding from the teacher.

His eyes felt heavy as he struggled to stay awake in class; the past night his mind was swimming with the thoughts on who "Fushimi-san" was. It probably didn't matter. He seemed to be taken care of, since the workers at Scepter Hospital seemed to always talk about him. They even said that he was their superior's favorite... or something.

Notes vibrated from his throat as he hummed a random tune while walking to the hospital. The appearances of his classmates started to fade away as he crossed streets and houses. He entered and exited the bustling city, into the secluded area where the hospital resided. Entering the sliding doors, he waved to Awashima, before entering to the main room.

The workers seemed to be busy, so he decided to pay Shiro, the only permanent patient he knew, a visit.

He walked into the spacious room, seeing the white-haired male dozing with his head against the window. Yata was just about to back out when amber eyes blinked open, before falling on his figure. "Oh, Yata-san!" He said, an easy smile appearing on his face. "What's up?"

"Ah, I just have some free time... wait, where's Kuroh and um... the girl... Neko?"

"They're both off in college. Though I assume Neko's just playing around as Kuroh's trying to work."

"That reminds me, I have another question... I was wondering who 'Fushimi-san' is."

"Fushimi? Oh, him. He's been here for some time, and so he's quite grumpy. Or it maybe was his original nature. I don't really know. Ah, he's been here since age... twelve? So that makes it six years. He came here when he was still in the second stage of cancer, but somehow he's progressed to the fourth. And so, the captain- I mean the boss of this hospital takes care of him since he's the most... damaged, persay."

"He's at... the fourth stage of cancer?"

Shiro's smile dropped a little, his expression turning sad. "Yeah. None of us are sure how long he's going to hold on, so we're just trying to make him happy. I guess none of us have the trick as he always just clicks his tongue at us instead. Maybe you should go visit him someday."

"Yeah... maybe..."

Yata was looking out the large glass window when the door burst open, Fuse and Goto panting as they burst open the door. "Yata!" They called in sync. "Can you come help for a sec?"

"Yeah sure!" The redhead responded. He turned and waved at Shiro before leaving the room. "See ya!"

He jogged after the blue-suited workers as they quickly navigated through the hospital. "Shizume Hospital was full, and so they had to send a young boy over. He fell off his bike and won't stop crying... we don't know what to do," Fuse panted as they arrived at the front of the hospital.

There, was a boy with black hair, his hands covering his eyes as he wiped away the tears that fell from his face. Yata's eyes widened a fraction before he walked up to the boy, and crouched down on his knees. "Hey, hey. It's alright."

The boy didn't stop crying, and Yata ruffled the boy's hair as he gently used his thumbs to push the tears to the side. "C'mon. You're strong right? You can take something like that. Next time you won't fall off your bike and you can show off your moves."

His loud crying started to quiet down, into softer sniffles as he buried his head into Yata's shirt. "It's fine now," Yata patted the boy's back as he hoisted him up. "Hup, we're going into an examination room."

As he headed towards one of the empty rooms, he didn't notice the curious glance of the Scepter 4 workers and another person he never saw before.

Yata let the boy sit on the bed-like cushion after he set the white waxy paper down. "Here, let's get you a band-aid for your arm. How do you feel right now?"

The boy looked up at Yata, his amethyst colored eyes locking with Yata's amber ones. "My arm..." he said quietly. "It hurts."

The older male gave him a soft smile. "Well, it will until it heals. Hey, why don't you tell me your name?"

"... Saito."

"That's not your full name is it, Saito-kun?" Yata ruffled the boy's hair again as he sat down next to him to apply the bandage.

"... don't like my first name. It sounds girly."

"It's fine! My name is also... kinda girly. My name's Yata... Yata Misaki."

Saito turned his head to face Yata. "...Misaki?"

The ginger breathed out slightly, poking Saito's cheek. "... Don't call me that. I'm older than you, Saito-kun."

He got a small smile from the smaller boy. "Sure, sure."

"You're feeling all better now?" Yata tilted his head.

"Mm! Thanks!"

Yata watched as the boy jumped down from the small cot and hurried out of the room. "Maybe I'll see you again, Yata-san!"

After sitting in the room for about a minute, the worker stepped out of the room which he was taking care of the young child in. Immediately after, he was swamped by the blue-coated workers. "Whoa Yata! I didn't think you were that good with children!"

"Yeah, before we had to have Domyouji-kun take care of the younger ones, but I don't think they really liked him."

"Oi, Kamo!"

"Anyways, Yata, you're on child duty now! Any younger than our age person who steps into this room is under your care!"

"Wait wha-"

"What's the commotion back here?" A new voice cut in, silencing all the commotion.

All the heads turned to face the owner of the voice, and Akiyama stood up straighter. "Ah, Captain! I mean, boss!"

So this is Munakata... Yata's thoughts clouded his mind as the subordinates of the male started a conversation with him. "So, I heard Yata Misaki-kun took good care of a young child?"

"Ah, wha- me? I just... calmed him down I guess? I didn't really do anything."

"Give yourself some credit!" Hidaka laughed. "We haven't gotten anyone who's this good at handling kids in a long time."

"Now all we need is someone to handle Fushimi," Domyouji side-commented, only to be hit my Enomoto. "That's not nice!"

_There it is again, Fushimi. Who is he?_

"Anyways," Munakata cut in again. "It is nice to finally meet you."

“Ah, uh. You too,” Yata responded nervously. The male in front of him exuded a strong, confident air that made it obvious he was the leader.

Munakata turned away and left to his office before Yata could call out to him again. The air in the room seemed to lighten as the male walked away.

 

—❅—

 

“Ah, school was hard today,” Yata complained as he flung his schoolbag across the back room.

Enomoto patted his back sympathetically. “It’ll be fine, Yata-kun.”

Kusanagi poked his head in as he called out to the workers chatting about in the back room. “It’s time to check up on everyone, guys. Let’s go.”

“Alright,” Akiyama responded, motioning for everyone to leave the room. “Ah, Yata-kun, we’re missing our caretaker for Fushimi-kun today. Could you go with him?”

Fushimi… “Yeah, okay. Uh… what do I do?”

“When you go there, Captain- I mean the boss will be there with him. You can ask him for instructions.”

“Uh-” Yata couldn’t even ask Akiyama for help before all of the blue uniforms disappeared in front of his eyes like a magic trick.

Yata sighed as he walked out of the back room, closing the door softly behind him as he left the room. Going to Awashima, he shakily asked for Fushimi’s room as his face heated up from talking to a girl.

“Fushimi Saruhiko…” Awashima muttered as she hit her fingers against the keyboard. “He’s on the fourth floor. His room is located at the end of the hall. Usually Captain is inside.”

The redhead nodded his thanks as he started to head towards the stairwell that lead to the fourth floor. After pushing the metal door open on the fourth floor, his steps resonated as he walked across to the last room.

 

The first thing Yata’s eyes landed on as he walked into the room was the large glass window that was located on the opposite side. Sunlight streamed in, lighting the room up with the sun’s warm rays. He tore his eyes away from the scenery outside to look at the patient in the uncomfortable white bed. He was… more different than what Yata had expected.

Fushimi had jet-black hair that was messed up, and stunning blue eyes that seemed to capture the ocean water inside them. “Ahh, who is it now?”

“Um… I’m Yata Misaki. I’m supposed to take care of you today…”

“Did Domyouji leave?”

“Huh?”

“Dom-you-ji. Did he leave?”

“What, um. No… he didn’t show up today. He’s probably sick.”

“Tch. What do you want?”

Yata was about to respond when Munakata walked into the door. “Fushimi-kun- oh. Hello, Yata Misaki-kun.”

“Good afternoon…”

“You’re taking over Domyouji’s shift today? Ah, I see. Here, then my job will be lessened. Please, take care of him until your shift is over,” Munakata smiled serenely before walking back out of the door, the sound of the door clicking behind him breaking the silence after the boss finished his statement.

“What- How? Huh?”

“Shut up, Misaki.”

“Hah?! What did you just call me?”

“Mi-sa-ki.”

“Shut up! don’t call me that! Call me ‘Yata’!”

“Tch.”

Yata laughed. “Ne, Fushimi. Tell me what you like?”

“What.”

“You’ve gotta like something. No one just lays around in bed the entire day.”

“You’d be surprised,” Fushimi responded bitterly.

Their conversation quieted down, and Yata asked quietly, “How do you feel…?”

“What do you mean-”

“You’re at stage four right?”

“... yeah.”

“Ah- sorry… for approaching such a sensitive subject.”

“Wow, Misaki can use fancy vocabulary words.”

“SHUT UP!”

Yata tilted his head back and let out a sigh as he relaxed into the chair. “Well, I’m going to watch over you today. If you’re just going to lay here, I’m going to sleep.”

“Tch. Do whatever you want.”

Silence settled in the room for a few minutes, before Yata sat up straight. “Gah, what do you even do all day?”

Fushimi slid his gaze lazily to the redhead. “Not sure.”

Yata clicked his tongue, displeased. He mumbled something about his school bag and darted out of the room to retrieve it.

“...quite an interesting character, huh.”

 

It wasn’t long before Yata appeared in the room again, this time a dark blue bag slung over his shoulder. The sound of the zipper being pulled was the only source of noise for a few seconds, before Yata dug around in his bag and a triumphant smile bloomed on his face. He held up a small gaming device. “Here. You might be interested in this one.”

Fushimi blinked at him a few times, before reaching out his hand to let the other male drop it in his hand. “What’s this?”

“A gaming device.”

“Tch. I knew that already. I meant the game.”

“Well this game…”

 

—❅—

 

Yata groaned as he flopped down on the couch. “Ahh, it’s finally Friday. School’s over for two days.”

Enomoto patted his shoulder sympathetically. “It’s okay. It’ll be over soon.”

“Where’s the boss?” Hidaka sighed. “Fushimi’s been complaining recently.”

At the sound of the black-haired male’s name, Yata’s head snapped up. “What’s happened to him?”

“Ehh? Someone’s worried about Fushimi?” Benzai looked at Yata, surprise evident on his face.

Yata snapped his gaze. “Beats me. He has my gaming device.”

“EHH?” All the Scepter 4 workers chorused together.

Domyouji rushed up to him. “You got Fushimi-kun to talk to you?”

“Ah, yeah? Is it that strange?”

“Fushimi-kun literally scares all of our student volunteers away!”

Sound erupted in the room, and Yata darted out of the room as fast as he could. He ran up to Fushimi’s room, still panting as he clutched the bar of the hospital bed.

“Tch. What’s wrong with you? Just bursting into my room.”

“Pfft. Just running away from those blue-suited workers.”

Yata pulled a chair next to Fushimi’s bed and plopped down on it. “So, did you play the game?”

“Oh, the one you let me play yesterday? I finished it.”

“Ha?! How are you so good? Let me play against you.”

“Not a chance, Misaki.”

“Shuddup, Saru!”

“Hah?”

“What?”

“What did you just call me…?”

“Saru? Since your name is Saruhiko… right?”

Fushimi clicked his tongue.

“Ah, do you not want me to call you that?” Yata asked with concern. “I’m sorry-”

“It’s fine,” Fushimi cut him off swiftly.

A light shade of red dusted Yata’s cheeks as he broke eye contact with the other boy. “It’s only fair right? If you get to call me by my first name, then I get to call you by yours.”

The two of them sat quietly, Yata noticing that Fushimi fell asleep. He reached over to take his glasses off, the plastic slipping off as the redhead’s fingers tugged on them. Yata folded them and put them on the bedside table and stood up, about to leave. He cast a glance at Fushimi before softly closing the door behind him as he left the room.

 

“So, where’s our favorite student worker been?” Domyouji teased as Yata stepped into the back room.

“Shut up.”

“Did you actually talk to Fushimi-kun?” Fuse asked, appearing next to Yata.

“Ah- he’s asleep right now…”

“Well, seems like finally someone’s made a connection with our Fushimi-kun,” Munakata cheerfully said as he stood up from the couch he was sitting from. “This calls for a party-”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Hidaka waved his hands hurriedly. “We don’t need one.”

“What do you mean finally?” Yata asked curiously. “No one’s talked to Saruhiko before?”

“Ah, well. Everyone who’s been assigned to him has been scared off by Fushimi-kun’s scary attitude,” Gotou answered.

“Talk about Fushimi later,” Kusanagi called as he poked his head into the room. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” a chorus of voices rose from the males standing in the room.

All of them turned to leave, but the doctor called out Yata’s name. He turned and looked at Munakata. “Yes?”

“Ah, nothing,” Munakata shook his head slightly. “Just had a thought come up in my mind.”

“Oh, alright…” Yata murmured uncertainly as he turned away and walked out of the room.

As there were no other patients that needed care, Yata went back up to Fushimi’s room, sitting back down in the chair next to the sleeping male. Ah… this is kind of weird… He pulled out his PDA from his pocket and sent some texts to his friends. The room was filled with buzzing and typing sounds as Yata chatted with them. The sunlight filtered in the room made the room warm, and he started feeling drowsy from the sun’s rays. He set the PDA aside, and leaned onto Fushimi’s bed as he quickly fell asleep.

 

He was drowning. What a cliche dream. Darkness overwhelmed him as he struggled to stay afloat. The only thing he could hear was his horrible’s father’s laughing, _you’re useless, you little monkey. You can struggle all you want._

 _“No, I’m not!”_ He wanted to shout back, but his voice didn’t reach his lips.

 _“Yes you are.”_ The response came anyways. _“You are.”_

Fushimi sat up quickly, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face. “Saru?” A sleepy voice called out. “You’re awake?”

The blue eyed boy scrambled to shove on his glasses, his gaze sharpening on the mop of ginger hair that was located on the side of his bed. “Misaki?”

“Ah, what time is it… six? Oh, shift’s over. How are you feeling?”

“Tch. It doesn’t matter.”

“Okay… if you say so,” Yata looked at him, concern evident on his face. “Just… tell me if you need something, okay?”

Fushimi didn’t respond as the white door replaced Yata’s figure near the exit.

 

—❅—

 

“Um… Yata-san?” Kamamoto asked on Monday, the first day back after the weekend. “Did anything happen?”

“No?” Yata responded, confused. “Why?”

“You seem really excited…”

“It’s nothing,” Yata mumbled, turning away.

“It’s probably something that’s got to do with the hospital,” Eric murmured, to which Chitose nodded.

“You got a hot girl or something?” Chitose teased.

“Yata can’t even talk to girls,” Akagi laughed. “His face would probably scare all the girls away.”

“Shut up!” Yata fumed, angrily grabbing his bag and started heading towards the hospital.

“Yata-san…” Kamamoto sighed as the shorter boy stomped away.

“...then is it a boy?” Eric asked the rest of the boys standing in front of the school gates.

“Ten bucks it’s a girl,” Chitose grinned.

 

Yata stepped into the pristine main room of the hospital. Kusanagi stood bent over the main desk, his elbow propping him up. He seemed to be talking to Awashima, so Yata let the two of them be. After making his way to the back room, Akiyama waved him over and told him not to bother Fushimi right now as he was being treated by Munakata.

He went anyways.

Yata peeked into Fushimi's room, seeing Munakata asking questions. The doctor turned, catching Yata’s eyes and motioning for him to enter the room. The redhead nervously closed the door behind him, the clicking sound of the door closing breaking the silence.

“So, you’ve been taking care of our Fushimi-kun, I assume?” Munakata asked with an easy smile on his face.

“Tch. More like he comes barging into my room,” Fushimi retorts.

“Shut up!” Yata glared at the younger boy, who smirked back at him.

“Anyways, it’s a pleasure to finally find someone who’ll take care of him. I will give you some papers later…” Munakata trailed off, his eyes looking at someone outside the door.

He walked over, opening the door. “Mikoto, I told you my break is at five.”

“I wanted to see you now though,” the red haired male drawled.

“Mikoto-san?” Yata questioned, his eyes big.

“Oh, Yata. Hi.”

“You two know each other?” Munakata tilted his head.

“Ah, yeah! He’s my homeroom teacher at Ashinaka. Why do you know each other?”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Suoh slung his arm over the violet eyed male.

“Oh, that’s cool!” Yata grinned.

“Anyways,” Munakata coughed, a light shade of red blooming on his cheeks.

“Mm? Is that Fushimi?” Suoh looked beyond the two standing at the door, before turning his gaze back to Yata. “He’s basically Reisi’s son. Be careful,” Suoh waved his hand as he started walking down the hall.

“Miko-” Munakata’s voice caught in his throat, before he let out a sigh. “I really don’t get him.”

The taller male quickly followed his significant other; the sound of the steps walking down the tile hall echoing onto the walls.

 

Yata heaved a sigh as he closed the door behind him. “Mi- Suoh is your teacher?” Fushimi blinked slowly at him.

“Ah, yeah.”

“I see.”

“Any… anyways, Saruhiko. Tell me about yourself!”

“Tch. Why would I do that?”

“Because I’m going to be taking care of you from now on! I think it would be good to know my patient better.”

Fushimi fixed his gaze on an object that wasn’t facing towards Yata. “No thanks.”

“You’re so boring, Saru,” Yata complained. “Let’s go outside.”

“No, that’s not a good idea!” Fushimi was about to reply, before being tugged by his wrist out of his room. “Hey! Let go of me!”

“You need to stand up and walk around… how long have you been inside that small room?!” Yata glared sharply at the taller boy.

“Obviously too long,” Fushimi snapped back, his legs shaking.

Yata wrapped the pale boy’s arm around his shoulder, before supporting him by putting his other arm on his waist. “Time for a change, then.”

“What are you doing, Misaki? Are you my mom?”

“Well, obviously your mom didn’t care enough about you to visit often, and so I will be taking over that role!”

Fushimi was about to retort before lapsing into silence. What Yata said was true, his mom did not care enough about him to even call him every once in a while. The elevator they had taken finally reached the ground floor, the doors sliding open. Yata dragged Fushimi into the permanent patient room, where he let the younger boy sit down on a piano bench.

“So? What did you drag me out here for?”

“No clue. But I wanted to get out of that stuffy white room.”

“I think it’s perfectly fine.”

“Shaddup.”

Yata plopped down next to him, leaning slightly on the other’s shoulder when he noticed a young girl standing across the room. He didn’t really pay attention to her, and she was summoned away by her caretaker.

“If you’re going to drag me all the way here, you should’ve had a plan to go with it…” Fushimi sighed as the shorter boy rested his head on his shoulder, resisting the urge to shove the boy off the piano bench.

Fushimi pulled out his PDA, tapping away at the mobile device. He was programming something that does who knows what. He was too immersed in his coding that he failed to notice Enomoto passing by, noticing the two of them, and taking a picture before walking away. Most of the people assigned to me are scared off within seconds… Fushimi sighed. _What’s so different about Misaki?_

 

Yata woke a few minutes later, stretching as he lifted the weight off of Fushimi’s shoulder. “Ahh, that felt nice. Haven’t rested in some time. Anyways, thanks Saruhiko!”

“... for what?”

“Ya know, for letting me sleep on your shoulder.”

“It’s not like I had a choice…”

“Yeah you did,” Yata shot back, grinning. “You could’ve just left me here and gone back to your room. That’s something that you would do.”

“Don’t talk to me like you know me.”

Yata blinked twice, a faint look of surprise crossing his features before morphing back to his grinning smile. “Well. You should go back to your room anyways. Do you want me to go back with you?”

“Not a chance.”

“Heh, you guys are pretty close,” Shiro commented after Fushimi left the room, making Yata jump from the piano bench.

“Ah?! You were here?”

Shiro chuckled, covering his mouth with his hand. “I only came in a few minutes ago. I was in the garden earlier.”

“Oh… I see.”

Kamo opened the door, scanning the room before his eyes fell on Yata. “Um… Yata-kun, could you please come over for a second?”

“Yeah, sure. Be right there,” he waved the other worker off, before standing up and saying his goodbyes to the white haired male.

 

Following Kamo, he found himself led to the back room, where Akiyama and Hidaka were staring at an image on someone’s phone. They both jerked backwards and looked up, when Kamo opened the door. “Ah- Yata-san!”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Yata sighed, walking over. “What’s up?”

“Ah… nothing,” Hidaka tilted his head slightly. “Just… take a look.”

Yata peered over at the bright PDA screen, a picture that was taken in the hospital shining back at him. The photo was taken from behind a glass screen; the reflections apparent in the snapshot. But the main focus of the image was the two in the center of the photo, one of them with ginger hair and his eyes closed resting his head on the other. There was sunlight streaming in from the window, lighting up the whole room, giving it a soft, golden glow. The other boy had his head slightly tilted towards the sleeping boy, his eyes focused on the PDA that was held up by his right hand.

“Ah-” Yata’s voice caught in his throat, a deep shade of red blossoming across his cheeks. “Delete it!”

“No way,” Akiyama laughed. “We’re going to show Capta- I mean boss. No one’s ever been this close to Fushimi-kun before.”

Yata lunged towards the older male, attempting to grab the phone. A chaos of Yata’s yelling and Akiyama dodging ensued, leaving the other workers in the room amused.

 

—❅—

 

There were some days where Yata went to the hospital with Suoh, since they both had business with the people in the building. “How did you meet Munakata-san?” Yata asked one day as they walked down the sidewalk.

“...Munakata… was a high school friend.”

“Ah?!” Yata blinked, surprised. “I didn’t think that you would go to the same high school- not that I’m trying to offend you or anything!”

Suoh just snorted, casting an amused glance at his student. “Yeah. We never really talked though. Munakata was… a straight-A student, student council president… We were always in the same class though. That man hated me so much… I saw him again in a bar after like three years. You can probably guess what happened from there.”

“Ooh,” Yata nodded, adjusting the strap of his bag. “Anyways, there was that one time you said Saruhiko was like Munakata-san’s son…? Is he actually-”

“No,” Suoh drawled. “Fushimi’s parents don’t contact him anymore. When he was first hospitalized, his dad sometimes came back. His dad died two years ago; but his life savings went towards supporting his son. His mom works for some big company; she never has time to visit. Reisi watches over Fushimi because of that.”

“Y’know,” Yata looked towards the sky. “If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought that he was Munakata-san’s son. They look quite similar.”

“That’s not that strange of an idea,” Suoh murmured as he stepped through the glass doors.

 

Yata was assigned a new permanent patient who got moved into Scepter Hospital a few days ago. When he opened the door, he saw a young girl, maybe six or seven, sitting on the bed with her legs dangling off the edge. “Hey, Narumi-chan. How are you feeling?”

“Good,” her quiet voice responded. “Everyone is nice here.”

Narumi Kousuke had blonde hair the color of golden sand, and eyes that looked like the hue of the sky on brightest of days. She was transferred to the hospital after her parents had abused her, and a flood of emergency patients had been rushed into Shizume Hospital.

The male looked at her with sadness tinted in his eyes. “Do you feel comfortable walking?”

“Ah… I haven’t tried,” her voice was shaky.

“Then, let’s try,” Yata gave her a warm smile, before picking her up and bringing her into the permanent patient room. “We can try in this room, since it is big and spacious.”

The blue-eyed girl nodded, and stood up after Yata set her on the ground. She started taking a few shaky steps; her legs were tattered and bruised. After a while, her steps became more confident, and she took herself around the large room. Yata let his gaze wander, away from the girl. He spotted Fushimi sitting not too far away, tapping away on his PDA. “Yo, Saruhiko!” He called, walking over to the taller male.

“She’s your patient?” Fushimi asked, without responding to his greeting.

“Mm. She’s doing quite well, for someone who’s injured like she is.”

Fushimi hummed, not looking up from his device. “Maybe she’ll have a chance to reconcile with her parents. Or get new ones.”

“Ah, maybe-” Yata cut himself short when he saw the small girl fall over.

He ran over, to where the girl lie on the ground. “Are you okay?” He asked, concerned.

The little girl pushed herself up slowly. There was something in her cerulean eyes that made his hear unclench a little. “Yes… I’m fine…”

Yata spent the rest of his shift watching over Narumi.

 

Narumi was sent back to the Shizume Hospital a week later, and Yata was left on duty to watch over Fushimi again.

“Why do you keep coming back?” Fushimi asked irritably.

“What do you mean? It’s my job!”

Fushimi clicked his tongue.

They were sitting on the piano bench again, Yata leaning against the wooden casing of the piano. “You know, we should go out to the garden some time…” Yata sighed, before snapping upright. “Like, as friends! Not like I’m asking you out or anything!”

“At first I didn’t even think about it…” Fushimi shot a glance at the redhead. “Maybe you should think before you even open your mouth.”

“Shut up!”

Yata glanced at the garden that was located outside the large window in the permanent patient room. He’d actually never been there; curiosity spiked in him every once in a while. It looked quite small, trees bordering the small patch of flowers and grass.

The sounds of fingers tapping against a solid surface brought Yata out of his daze, and he turned to look at Fushimi. The other boy was coding something; black and purple and blue text in a language that Yata couldn’t understand. He leaned over Fushimi’s shoulder. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“Programming…”

“Is that what you do all day while you lay in bed?”

“That’s none of your business-” Fushimi said, turning his head towards the other male.

He didn’t think Yata would actually be that close to him; their faces barely a centimeter apart when he was fully facing him. Yata’s face flushed before he backed away quickly, snapping his gaze at an angle so that Fushimi could not see his face.

A thought ran through Fushimi’s mind before he shoved in a dark corner, mentally shutting it up in a box and throwing the key away forever.

The atmosphere in the room shattered when Yata’s PDA started buzzing; a sign that someone was calling him. The redhead picked it up, bringing the device close to his ear. “H...hey.”

“Ah, what?! No way,” Yata frowned. “No, I’m not with anyone right now! Shut up, Chitose!”

Muted words streamed into the room, the voice coming from the person on the other side of the line. “Whatever. I’ll talk to you on Monday. No. Go away. Bye.”

Yata let out a frustrated sigh as he pressed the off button on his phone. “Damn Chitose thinks I go hang out with some girl after school rather than go work.”

“You don’t really work though,” Fushimi pointed out. “You really don’t do much hospital stuff here.”

“Shut it.”

The clock on the wall read that it was five thirty in the afternoon. “C’mon, Saru,” Yata jumped from the bench, pulling the other by the wrist. “Who knows what’s out there.”

 

The two of them went outside of the small hospital and into the garden behind. There were a variety of colors, ranging from the pink of a newborn kitten to the dark, lush greens of the jungle. Yata ran like an excited child visiting an amusement park for the first time, and Fushimi trailed after him like a supervisor that was forced to go with the child.

Yata initially stopped at a small rose bush, looking at the soft red petals that were in bloom. As he wandered around, his eyes fell on a clump of lily of the valley’s, crouching down to examine the small, white bells that formed at the ends of the stems. They stayed there for around half an hour, and Fushimi found Yata picking a gardenia from its bush. The white petals made it seem like a rose at first; but the shape and how it swirled together in the middle showed that it wasn’t a rose after all.

The sun had started to set, its warm rays dyeing the surroundings in warm colors, the garden basking in the late sun. It was quiet, except for the soft gust of wind that tousled through the leaves of the trees that surrounded the hospital. Fushimi looked at Yata, who had turned to face him, back to the sun. Yata seemed to be glowing, the sun illuminating his figure with a warm, orange glow that almost looked as if he was on fire. Fushimi watched as Yata approached him, lifting his heels off the ground to reach the other’s height, tucked the white flower behind his ear, and smiled gently as his heels touched the ground once again.

Fushimi watched, and he knew he was entranced.

 

—❅—

 

The school year had ended, the summer passed, and the next one rolled around quickly. Yata returned to the hospital to work for his senior year after the break had finished, being welcomed and returning as if he had never left.

There was a day when Munakata didn’t let Yata into Fushimi’s room. He had yelled at the older man to at least let him visit, but he was stubborn and didn’t budge from the door. Why? the question raced through Yata’s mind, over and over, like a racecar on full speed flying down a looping track that was his mind. Why?

He noticed the clipboard the doctor was holding, and only saw one line on the paper, but the one line was enough for his brain and heart to stop for a moment. Fushimi Saruhiko -- it read. -- critical condition. Time left: less than a week; unsure.

Yata runs out of the hallway and down the stairs so fast; it was a miracle he didn’t trip. He burst into the permanent patient room, where Shiro and another white-haired girl who he’s never talked to before were conversing, before shaking his head and backing out of the room.

He was panting when he reached the back room, his eyes wild and his head spinning. “Calm down, Yata-san!” Domyouji said tentatively, reaching out towards the other male.

“Leave… leave me alone!” Yata responded, his breathing unsteady, hands clutched over his ears.

“He’s gone insane…” Fuse commented, worry creeping into his voice. “Is it because of Fushimi-san?”

Yata didn’t look as he kept his eyes on the ground, somehow making his way to the hospital garden, collapsing in a small clearing, surrounded by crimson roses and other flowers he couldn’t name. His breathing didn’t become steady as tears pricked at his eyes, the salty liquid slowly bursting the dams that were his self-consiousness. They ran down the sides of Yata’s face, droplets hitting the dark soil.

“Saru… can’t…” He couldn’t say any words, the crying rendering himself unable to speak.

Kamamoto and Chitose dropped by a little later, called in by Kusanagi. Yata made them go, saying that he just wanted to be alone and see Fushimi. Munakata took pity on the crying boy, and let him inside. He warned Yata that Fushimi may have become too weak to even talk to him.

“I don’t care, don’t- I just-” Yata tried to retort, but shook his head and pushed past the doctore into the room.

He all but threw himself to the side of the bed, his tears causing the side of the bed to dampen.

“Why are you so worried?” Fushimi asked, his voice softer than it ever was before. “Why are you so attached to me? I’m… I’m just another cancer patient.”

“You are- are not!” Yata swallowed hard, taking in gulps of breath in attempt to steady his breathing. “You… you’re someone who makes me want to come back every day! I don’t care what other people say about you, and yeah, you’re a jerk some times but that doesn’t stop my feelings for you! I don’t want you to die- you are worth so much to me! I… I don’t know what I’ll do if you’re gone…”

“Hah, I didn’t know Misaki had feelings for me,” Fushimi commented.

“Shut up!” Yata wiped the tears that didn’t stop from his eyes. “I know you might not have the same feelings towards me, but…”

“Misaki…” Fushimi sighed. “Hey. Stop crying…”

Yata looked at Fushimi, tears blurring the normally clear, hazel eyes. “Saru…”

Fushimi reached out a hand to brush the last few tears away. “I never said I didn’t have feelings for you either. Even though you’re so dense and short and annoying. You’ve changed my life in more ways than you would think of. I’ll miss you.”

Though it was something Yata never thought Fushimi would say, after the words left the latter’s lips, Yata reached towards him and pulled the sitting boy into a gentle embrace. “I’ll… I’ll miss you too,” Yata murmured between sniffles as tears started to flow again. “Don’t… ever forget about me, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

After Yata left work that day, he immediately went to his room and locked the door, the sound of his back hitting the door echoing throughout the house. Sobs wracked through the boy’s body, and cries of frustration was heard throughout the night.

For the next week, Yata didn’t go to work, but still attended school. Kamamoto asked him every day if he was okay, and Yata grumbled a “yes I’m fine” before opening his bento and starting to eat.

He didn’t visit the hospital either; he didn’t want to see Fushimi taking in his last breath, murmuring his last words… all it would do was make him break even more, and the thought of trying to save him felt like sand falling through his fingertips.

There was a day when Kusanagi had sent him a text that Fushimi had left the world; and that his room would be empty the next time -if Yata ever did- visited. Yata’s mental and physical health deteriorated quickly, and his mother worked her hardest to keep him up and about.

 

Suoh texted him once, and once only. The text didn’t contain much, just a simple message telling him that Fushimi would be waiting for him. The text caused something to turn in his mind; and he started to function normally after. Though it took some time to recover, and sometimes Yata would say Fushimi’s name out loud, his life seemed to calm down a bit.

He started to go back to work a month later. A single, pink lily was set in a tall glass vase that was located near the window in Fushimi’s room.

 

—❅—

 

"Bye everyone! I'll be sure to visit again!" Yata waved as he walked out of Scepter Hospital.

He was going to a college a few cities over; around an hour and a half away by train. It was going to be his first time, leaving his hometown. After arriving at the college, he settled in pretty quickly. He didn't have a roommate as the school wasn't that big; every person could have their own dorm. He unpacked his belongings, setting them into places where he thought was good.

School was going to start the next week, might as well make himself comfortable. Throughout the week, he called all his highschool friends, and Kusanagi had put him on the speaker so he could talk to the workers in Scepter 4.

After wandering around and running in the halls for around ten minutes, Yata finally found his class, opening the door and walking in. There were more students than he thought he would see, and their eyes were fixed onto him as he walked into the classroom. He ignored the stares, sitting down in a random open seat that he found.

A few minutes later, the teacher walked in. He had brown hair and darker brown eyes, and wore all black clothes. "Welcome, everyone. My name is Iwafune Tenkei, but you can all call me Iwa-sensei. I will be teaching..."

Yata had already sunk in his seat, bored. The teacher's voice was like a drone, making him want to sleep. Instead, he resigned to drawing on his notebook, small doodles of random thoughts that appeared in his head. The sound of chalk on the blackboard and Iwa-sensei's voice made him slowly close his eyes.

When he had opened his eyes again, Iwa-sensei was wrapping up the class; everyone was packing their items into their backpacks. Yata followed suit, shoving his notebook into his backpack. He lifted the bag up, slinging it over his shoulders as he walked out of the classroom. After stepping outside the building, he looked around, taking in the sight of the trees who were bare; their leaves falling into the orange-yellow clumps on the ground. He sat down by a tree, taking out his PDA when he heard a voice call out, "Oh! It's fiery hospital worker!"

Yata lifted his eyes off the screen of his PDA to see a girl with heterochromatic eyes staring back at him. "Ah... ah? Neko?"

"Meow! Long time no see!"

"Where's Kuroh?" He asked curiously. He had always seen the two of them together with Shiro.

"Kurosuke's studying hard for his tests! He says his classes are hard!" She reached over to pull his wrist. "Come with me! I'm going to the hospital to visit Shiro!"

Yata smiled, albeit sadly, before as he followed the white haired girl.

It took them less time than he thought it would to get to the hospital, the large, double glass doors in front of his eyes.

He stepped in, the ring of Neko's bells sounding behind him. Awashima looked up from the screen in front of her eyes, her gaze falling on the duo. "Oh, welcome. Everyone is working in the back. Neko, Shiro is doing well."

"Yay!" Neko jumped, smiling. "Let's go visit Shiro!"

The two of them walked into the permanent patient room, the large window letting in the autumn light. Shiro was always easy to spot among the crowd because of his silvery white hair. Something in the back of Yata's mind told him Shiro's hair seemed brighter today.

There was another white-haired person in the room; a young girl, a middle schooler at the oldest. She had dark red eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. He looked at her and she looked back; their eyes locked for a moment. Then she turned away, her red and black dress following her as she hopped off the bench she was sitting on.

"Hey, Neko, Yata," Shiro waved. "I've been feeling better lately. Where's Kuroh?"

"Kurosuke's working hard at college!" Neko responded.

"Hi there, Anna," a familiar voice called.

Yata turned around to see the small girl, Anna, run towards a blonde haired man. "Totsuka-san?" Yata's voice sounded before he could think.

"Ah, Yata-chan! Long time no see! How's college?"

"It's really boring," Yata sighed.

The girl turned around, facing Yata. She dug her pale fingers into her dress, before pulling out a red marble. She lifted the stained glass so it was in front of her eye, looking at Yata through it.

He stared back, confused. She removed it, putting it back into her dress. "Misaki," her quiet voice called his name.

"Hah?! How do you even know my name? And call me 'Yata'!"

Totsuka put his hand on the young adult. "Anna is a mind reader. She stays here because she doesn't want to be tested on with the government."

Yata calmed down a little, turning back to the girl. "Sorry… te - wait! A mind reader? That’s..."

"It's okay. Thank you, Tatara. Misaki, you... aren't happy," Anna cut him off in the middle of his rambling.

Yata looked surprised. He hadn't expected the girl to say that to him, especially since it was the first time she had spoken to him. "Ah...yeah."

"Was it because of Reishi's patient, Saruhiko?"

The moment Anna mentioned the blue-eyed male's name, his breath hitched. He tore his gaze away from the girl, fixing it on the ground.

"Misaki... Misaki will meet someone who will make him happy soon."

Yata blinked at the albino girl, before turning towards the window. "I don't... I don't want to meet anyone else," Yata's voice was shaky. "I just want to see Saruhiko. I just want..."

His voice trailed off into soft sobs as he raised his hands to cover his face.

He missed the small smile the crossed Anna's face.

Yata and Neko both left for the college soon after, the sky starting to be stained red by the setting sun. After stepping off the train platform, Neko raised her hands to wave a goodbye. "I'm going to find Kurosuke," is what she told him. Yata lifted his arm as the girl disappeared into the shadows of the evening. He walked to the library, starting on his homework. He scribbled words as he looked at the textbook words that didn't register in his head.

That night, he dreamt of blue eyes and black hair.

 

—❅—

 

Yata ran to class, arriving just a moment before the lecture started. He sat near the side of the room; the side with the windows that had the view of the campus; trees whose leaves had fallen, students rushing to their classes. The teacher started talking, about what, he didn't know.

He started to scribbled on his notebook, his doodles sprawled across the margins of his notebook; the red line splitting his drawings from the notes that he should've been taking. He leaned against his hand, his elbow resting on the desk that he sat at. He watched his professor talk about something, his mouth moving but the words never reaching Yata's ears.

He felt his eyes start to close when he heard the door open, one of the college counselors standing in the doorway with someone behind him. "Here, this is your classroom," the counselor gestured.

All eyes turned to the new student as he walked into the room. The boy wore regular clothes; a black jacket with a fur hood and black leather pants. His eyes were piercingly blue; the color reminded him of someone that he had last seen nearly a year ago.

"Introduce yourself," Iwa-sensei said to the new student.

"My name is Fushimi Saruhiko-" he started, and abruptly stopped when Yata slammed his hands on his desk.

All eyes turned to the chestnut-haired male was standing, his hands pushed against the desk, his hazel eyes wide. "Saru...hiko?" He repeated slowly.

The two boys' eyes locked, them staring at each other before Iwa-sensei clapped his hands. "Well, it seems like you both know each other. Yata-kun, you can help introduce Fushimi-kun to this school. Fushimi-kun, you can introduce yourself another day. We must get on with the class."

The rest of class passed by with Yata watching Fushimi.

The rings of the bell throughout the school signified the end of the class period. It was about time for lunch; most of the students had already vacated the classroom. Yata finished packing to find Fushimi standing next to him. Yata felt a surge of... of something within him, and it didn't go away until he had dragged the younger boy onto the rooftop of the school. "What's the point of dragging me here, Misaki? Did you want to show me the wonderful view of this school? It's really cold up here. Winter isn't the best time to drag someone onto the top of a building."

Yata ignored Fushimi's comments. He was panting, staring into the depths of Fushimi's eyes. "Are... are you really here? You're... you're really Saruhiko?"

The blue-eyed boy just smirked. "What do you think, Misaki?"

Yata inhaled, and Fushimi half-expected him to attack him on the spot. Instead, the shorter boy launched himself at Fushimi, causing the other boy to fall backwards, his legs bending as he sat on the concrete. Yata wrapped his arms around the lanky boy's body, pulling him closer an burying his head into his shoulder. "Saru... I missed you so much... wait. How are you even here?"

Fushimi just shrugged. "It's a secret."

Yata just laughed, and Fushimi put one arm around the shorter boy, the other carding through the soft chestnut hair. "I'm back, Misaki."

 

—❅—

 

"C'mon, Saruhiko!" Yata grunted, pulling Fushimi by his wrist towards the train.

The taller mumbled something incoherent before following. The two of them caught the train just before it left; still panting as the automatic doors slid shut behind them. The scenery of trees and rivers zipped by in a blur as they caught their breaths.

"Why are you so desperate for us going?" Fushimi asked as he clutched the metal bar located next to the door.

"Well, I haven't been there for some time, and you're alive! Imagine everyone's looks on their faces!" Yata rambled excitedly.

Fushimi pushed his glasses up before clicking his tongue. The train stopped and the doors opened, light flooding into their eyes as they stepped outside the car.

Awashima looked up from the desktop as she heard the glass doors open, "Welc- oh Yata-" she started, before shifting her gaze behind the short male. A yelp escaped past her lips. "Fushimi?!"

"Ah, hey, Awashima."

The two walked past her as she grabbed the phone.

They walked into the permanent patient room to see that Shiro wasn't there, but Anna was. "Anna!" Yata called, waving as he walked towards the albino girl.

Before he could reach her, the door slammed open, people rushing into the room before his mind could function. "Y...yata-san!" Kamamoto exclaimed.

"Fushimi-san!" Domyouji gasped, his eyes wide. "Is that... is that really you?"

The pair was crowded by the people in the hospital, making them back into each other. The sound of clapping silenced the room; Suoh and Munakata stepped forwards. "Mikoto-san!" Yata blinked.

"Tch," Fushimi averted his gaze from his doctor.

"Misaki!" A soft voice, a girl's voice sounded as Anna stepped forwards, before hugging him around his waist.

"Me too! Me too!" Totsuka laughed, embracing the two boys and Anna.

Everyone in the room joined in, laughing and smiling as they chattered on about the events that had happened.

 

"I wish we could stay with everyone," Yata sighed, leaning against Fushimi.

"Mm," he replied noncommittally.

They sat on the plastic seats, watching the nature outside the window pass like a blur. Yata's eyes slowly closed as he felt the winter light warm his side. He blinked sleepily before shifting slightly and rested his head on Fushimi's shoulder. He threaded their fingers together; warmth radiating from both their hands.

Fushimi watched Yata with a fond expression, thinking about the time they spent together in the hospital. He removed the grey beanie on Yata's head, before pressing his lips against the shorter boy's hair.

 

"Yata," a voice rang out. "Yata-kun, open your eyes."

He blinked open his eyes, his gaze focusing on a girl with silver-white hair. Her hair reached a little beyond her neck, but his gaze was torn away to the wings that were extending from her back.

"Uhh, whoah! Who are you?" He asked, confused. Looking around, he noticed that they were somewhere in outer space, the earth beneath them seemed small like a star seen from earth.

"My name is Klaudia Weismann," She smiled gently, her blue eyes fixed on Yata's figure. "I want to explain some things to you."

"Oh... okay. I'm sorry- have we met before?"

She breathed out a laugh. "If you have, that would have been very surprising. I am a celestial being, as are these three." Klaudia motioned behind her, with three figures stepping out from behind her.

Yata blinked his eyes in surprise. "Ah, Kuroh, you're Neko... and... uh... sorry. I forgot your name."

The last male covered his face with his hand to suppress a laugh. "I'm Shiro. I just... was trapped in his body for some time. But now I'm back in my original body, and now my name is Adolf."

"Are you three celestial beings too...? What's happening?"

Klaudia's wings folded behind her back. "Many years ago, someone ripped my brother's soul out of his body and cast it to Earth. His soul was sent into Isana Yashiro's body, who was suffering from leukemia. To find my brother, these two-" she gestured at Kuroh and Neko. "- decided to follow him, but as they left the heaven realm, their memories were erased; except the fact that "Shiro" was a special person to them. I was also sent to sleep by someone before I found out about Adolf. What a cheap move."

"And so, the sickness was real; it wasn't divine punishment from the heavens or anything. After your friend, ah, Fushimi was sent to heaven, Klaudia was woken; as she is the soul guardian of Shizume City," Adolf continued. "Which means, no one had died between the time I was cast to Earth and Fushimi died."

"I pleaded for the gods to let my brother return; in change of returning Fushimi to the human realm. The gods agreed, and so I was sent to retrieve the three of them back," Klaudia explained. "Though I was quite lucky. Most souls that are sent to heaven do not return to Earth, and if they are rejected, get sent to the underworld. I did send Fushimi back because his soul bond was so strong."

"Soul bond?" Yata questioned.

Neko giggled. "It's someone's soulmate bond! Celestial beings like us can sense them!"

"So is it just a human thing? Who else has soul bonds?"

"Ah! Shiro-kun and Kuroh-kun have a soul bond! So does Glasses Guy and the Red King!" Neko smiled as she jumped around. "Humans like you can't see the red strings... but we can! And it has a very cool effect when we pull on them!"

Neko grinned as her eyes traced a line that Yata couldn't see. She yanked backwards on something, before tripping over. "Oops, pulled too hard!"

Less than a second later, Yata felt his heart contradict; he wanted to see Fushimi. Fushimi, the male who had lived with a horrible father; had suffered such a hard life because of his disease... He wanted to make sure he was okay; he was alive- is he even alive? Is this entire dream worse than he thought? Yata didn't notice that he had clutched the cloth over his heart, it was beating like the drum beat to a popular rock song. His breathing was ragged and fast; almost hyperventilating.

Kuroh was scolding Neko when Klaudia walked in front of him. "Everything is fine. Fushimi is still next to you. It's time for you to wake up soon. All four of us give our thanks to you; this won't be the last time we will meet." Shiro gave him one last smile.

"Wai-" Yata straightened up, his fingers reaching towards the celestial group. But as his fingers extended, they faded away into silvery white lights that dimmed until he was left in darkness.

_What just happened?_

 

Yata blinked open his eyes, weak winter rays gently filtering through the blinds of their dorm. His eyes focused on the dark blue material in front of his eyes; lifting his gaze to see Fushimi's sleeping figure. Their legs were tangled together; the bed was warm. It all seemed like a dream.

His arms were folded against his chest, and he reached one hand forwards towards Fushimi's shirt. His fingers brushed against the loose fabric, before curling his fingers in and holding onto the cloth like it was his lifeline. When he didn't fade away like Yata had expected, he let out a sigh of relief. He shifted closer towards the warmth of the other, before falling asleep with a soft smile on his face.

 

In the hospital garden, the last chrysanthemums and sedums started to bloom.

 

_-swaying from season to season-_

 

tumblr: [snoflakesun](https://snoflakesun.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> yay! the fic is over... i hope you liked it.  
> story title is from the song "Swaying from Season to Season" by Mafumafu and Soraru! check it out!  
> comments are v e r y appreciated!! check out my blog too i need friends
> 
> some flower definitions (they might be wrong...)  
> gardenia - secret love  
> crimson roses - feeling of mourning and sadness  
> lily - i'm sorry for your loss  
> chrysanthemums - fidelity, joy, and long life  
> sedums - a cure for broken and wounded hearts


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